Anime Pokémon: Garbage and the Fanbase Affronted
I hate this film, and for someone who often treats bad films with mere apathy at worst, that's quite the accomplishment. This film's main conflict (get the Genesect out or else the city will explode!) is only allowed to happen because some unseen architect had the idiocy to build a city's power supply under a nature reserve filled with animals that shoot lasers and breath fire without even putting security guards in, and not once is this called out on. Our sympathies are told to lie with the violent bugs that forced the park's residents out at gunpoint and not the angered Pokémon wanting to get their home back.
And then there's the star Pokémon themselves. Short and sweet, this Mewtwo has no logical reason to exist at all ("because I felt a new one would be better" be damned), its plotline feels very disconnected from the rest of the film, and it suddenly cares about humans even though moments ago it wouldn't mind if they were killed. There is no reason for there to be five Genesect when only two are focused on and given characterisation, and said characters never go beyond "homesick crybaby" and "violent asshole who suddenly stops being violent at the end for stupid reasons". And really, after sixteen films and several human villains portrayed without any form of sympathy or redemption, would an actual Pokémon portrayed that way, no sappy heel-turns or misunderstandings to be had, really be too much to ask for? Especially when they're the creation of the games' main villains and seem designed to be an evil(er) counterpart of a popular Pokémon?
There are several more problems with this film, too many to list. In summation, you'll likely find Genesect mediocre at best, and at worst a disgrace to the first movie, its Mewtwo, the franchise in general, and quite possibly humanity as a species.
Anime A Poorly Executed Missed Opportunity
I honestly wanted to like the film. I had hoped for a Pokémon film that was deep, and thought-provoking about life as a way to continue with those themes from “Mewtwo Strikes Back” and “Mewtwo Returns”. I had hoped that this would be a film that brought everything full circle, that Mewtwo will have finally found the peace he had sought and fought for, and used that to teach the Genesect. I was even hoping that there would have been a death in this film—because it's been a long time since Pokémon last had a character die for real, and though it would have hurt me inside as a fangirl, I felt like Mewtwo should have had a Heroic Sacrifice.
What we got instead was a film with a confused identity, a script riddled with plot holes big enough to drive a truck through complete with a Chekhov's Skill that resulted in a cop-out, characters that contributed nothing in the long run, and a main character who should not have existed that it's almost insulting. I could not enjoy the film because all of the above was so directly in my face that I couldn't ignore them. It drove me to the brink of madness when it wasn't boring me to tears or making me angry.
There's a history behind this film that can be summed up as such: Kunihiko Yuyama just felt like having a new Mewtwo. Prior to the film's release, they decided to re-air the first Pokémon movie and its sequel on TV so the new generation of kids would have a better understanding of Mewtwo—a month after the first trailer was released. These stupid decisions may have resulted in the film being currently the second-lowest grossing Pokémon movie.
Regardless, depending on who you are, you may or may not have a problem with the film in the long-run if you are willing to overlook the flaws. Considering one of the main characters is female (albeit poorly executed), that could be appealing to some people. It's only about an hour long, and the film's obviously for fans of Pokémon, so it'll come off as mediocre at best to the average watcher. But the film will either be good or bad to any individual who is a fan of Pokémon and wants to watch 'em all, even though I personally do not recommend this film even if my life depended on it. If you are a Pokémon fan (especially if you are a Mewtwo fan) and you haven't watched this film yet, but still want to even after all you've heard and read, tread carefully.
Anime It wasn't what I expected.
But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Having watched Pokémon since it first started airing in the U.S., I think I have a pretty good handle of how the series works, and I can usually at least predict the general flow of how most episodes or movies go. Not this time. I didn't expect that this movie would focus on just the Pokémon again, like the Keldeo movie did. I didn't expect this Mewtwo to act the way it did. I didn't expect Mewtwo to sound the way it did. This movie threw me off from the formula I thought I'd get,and except for the end, surprised me. And it was refreshing. I know that "Newtwo" gets a lot of hate for possibly replacing the old one, but I really liked that they tried something new instead of making the easy appeal to the past. The Red Genesect, while a bit generic, is still a serious foe, and the high-speed battles that take place during the movie are a pleasure to watch, again, because it's different from what we usually get.
However, having said all that, there is some part of me that feels that using the original Mewtwo may have made a better story. Again, while I do really like that this Mewtwo is different, I think that there could have been another great movie made from the bringing back of the first movie's star. I'm a sucker for continuity, and it could have led to new storyline potentials for the original Mewtwo.
Nonetheless, though I wouldn't call it my favorite Pokémon movie, I still enjoyed watching it. If you can get past the fact that the Mewtwo is a little different than the one you know, then I think you'll like this one, if only because it's not what you're used to seeing.